Pineapple Post #5
Tall ships, sunken boats and more.
Elissa, an 1877 square-rigged iron barque, set sail from the Brooklyn Bridge Marina last night, bound for Boston, closing out a Fourth of July celebration that brought tall ships from around the world into New York Harbor.
The Galveston, Texas-based ship is the oldest Class A tall ship in Sail 250 — a global gathering of tall and military ships to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary — and one of three ships of her kind in the world to still sail.
“She’s something special,” said Todd Grove, who has been volunteering with Elissa since 2000 and is serving as quartermaster for the first time on this voyage. “She’s one of the very, very last of her kind.”
Grove and the rest of the crew departed from Texas on June 8. The roughly three-week journey to New York had “a little bit of everything,” Grove said. The crew, comprised of approximately 34 volunteers and a cadre of licensed officers, motored across the Gulf of Mexico to Key West, as the wind was “smack on our nose,” he said. After two nights in Fort Pierce, Florida, the wind had shifted to the southwest, and they sailed up the East Coast without touching the engine for 700 miles.
From New York, Elissa is heading to a tall ships festival in Boston, where she’ll spend the weekend before turning south for stops in Savannah and Pensacola. She’s due back in Galveston by mid-August, though hurricane season may impact the timeline.
The visit marked Elissa’s third trip to New York City. The 162-foot ship first visited in 1884, and last returned in 1986 for the Statue of Liberty’s centennial.
The ship was originally built in Aberdeen, Scotland for Liverpool merchant Henry Fowler Watt, who used her as a tramp trader — picking up cargo at smaller ports around the world rather than running a fixed route. She sailed under British, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish flags over the decades before ending up abandoned in a scrapyard in Piraeus Harbor, Greece. In 1974, the Galveston Historical Foundation bought her and began a restoration that returned her to sailing condition.
The ship is still rigged as she was in 1877, with the addition of a few modern touches like radios, chart plotters and radar. Asked whether it was ever nerve-wracking to steer a ship built nearly 150 years ago, Grove said his experience with Elissa — including a couple of storms over the years — has only reinforced his confidence in her design.
“All she has done this entire trip is prove just how fantastically designed and appropriate for this kind of work she is,” Grove said. “She’s taken really good care of us.”
Heights Happenings
A new Georgian restaurant is coming to Atlantic Avenue. BEBO, which means “grandma” in Georgian, is slated to open at the end of the month.
L’Appartement 4F is hosting a Bastille Day celebration on July 19 from 2-6 p.m., in partnership with Montague Open Streets. Tickets include drinks from Zev Rovine Selections and Back Home Beer, plus food — including a hot dog in a 4F brioche bun topped with Petrossian Caviar.
Noodle Pudding is an “ideal neighborhood restaurant,” according to Eater.
Diljān will start serving Afghan pizza in the next few weeks.
Two ships from the restaurant group Crew — Pilot and Victory Chimes — sank in the Henry Street Basin in Red Hook last weekend.
192 Columbia Heights sold for $24.5 million this week — the highest sale in Brooklyn so far this year, and the third-highest residential sale in borough history. The 6,625-square-foot brownstone was built in 1856.
Have feedback on last weekend’s Fourth of July events in the neighborhood? Submit comments to Councilmember Lincoln Restler’s office here.
A ship owned by environmental organization Hudson River Sloop Clearwater was removed from the Sail4th 250 parade last weekend over “politically charged” messaging. The ship had banners that said “Save the Clean Water Act” and “Indigenous Rights, Racial Justice, Climate Solutions.”
As multiple outlets reported, the Brooklyn Bridge briefly caught fire during the fireworks display on Saturday night. According to Councilmember Restler’s office, the fires occurred on the platforms built to launch the fireworks, not the bridge itself, and there was no structural damage to the bridge.
The Center for Brooklyn History is hosting “An Unfinished Revolution: Dialogues on Freedom and Democracy,” a talk with historian Elizabeth Hinton, on July 22 from 6:30–8 p.m.
Journalist Pamela Colloff is coming to Books are Magic on July 20 at 7 p.m. to discuss her latest book, “Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast.”
The Brooklyn Heights Association is looking for volunteers to make sandwiches for the community fridge on July 13 from 5-6 p.m. Sign up here.
Nearby News
Deez Links is throwing a media mixer at Public Records on July 14 at 7 p.m., co-hosted by Teen Vogue creative editorial director Mi-Anne Chan. Tickets are sold out, but there’s a waitlist.
A 30-foot-tall polar bear sculpture is coming to the Gowanus Canal, alongside a 13-foot cub. The cub sculpture by Bushwick-based artist Jen Lewin originally debuted at Burning Man in 2022.
The former Macy’s building in Downtown Brooklyn is getting a major overhaul. The 440,000-square-foot space will become “BKX,” billed as the largest contiguous retail space in New York City, with a new central atrium, entertainment, dining and retail.
Mahjong has been sweeping the nation. Talea Cobble Hill is hosting an open / guided play event on July 9 from 6:30-9 p.m. Over in Dumbo, Chop Suey Club is hosting a mahjong workshop at Ziggy’s Roman Cafe on July 21 from 7-9 p.m.
An affordable housing lottery is now open for Columbia Commons I, an eight-story building at 498 Columbia Street in Red Hook.
St. Ann’s Warehouse in Dumbo is looking for 150 volunteers to train as puppeteers for a public art event in September. The event will bring a herd of life-sized Buffalo puppets to the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Applications are due July 15. No puppeteering experience required.
City & Courts
New York City’s Department of Sanitation is planning to expand its “Empire Bin” trash program throughout the city over the next six years to limit the number of trash bags on sidewalks. Brooklyn Community District 2 info sessions for the program will be held on July 8 at 6 p.m. and July 22 at 6 p.m.